Last update - 00:00 17/02/2007
U.S. lawmakers reject Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
The Democratic-controlled United States House of Representatives issued a symbolic rejection of President George W. Bush's decision to deploy an additional 21,500 American troops to Iraq.
One day after the House vote, U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid an unannounced visit to Baghdad, arriving as American and Iraqi troops made initial gains in a new crackdown against militants in the Iraqi capital.
"The success of a new security crackdown in Baghdad will be measured largely on how well the U.S.-backed government capitalizes on any respite of sectarian violence," Rice said Saturday.
A U.S. embassy official said Rice was expected to meet various officials during her visit.
Following the vote on the nonbinding legislation Friday, which was passed with a majority of 246 to 182, Democrats said their next move would be to challenge Bush's request for $93 billion in new funds for the Pentagon.
"The stakes in Iraq are too high to recycle proposals that have little prospect for success," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, leader of Democrats who gained power last fall in elections framed by public opposition to the war.
"The passage of this legislation will signal a change in direction in Iraq that will end the fighting and bring our troops home," she said following the vote, in which 17 Republicans joined 229 Democrats in a wartime rebuke to the president.
Citing recent comments by Democrats, Bush's Republican allies said repeatedly the measure would lead to attempts to cut off funds for the troops.
Moving quickly, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid set a test vote for Saturday on an identical measure.
Republican senators said in advance they would deny Democrats the 60 votes needed to advance the resolution, adding they would insist on equal treatment for a Republican-drafted alternative that opposes any reduction in funds for the troops.
Still, there were signs of Republican restlessness on the issue. Only two members of the Republican rank and file sided with Democrats on an earlier procedural vote, and the total figured to be higher this time.
The House vote completed a turnabout from the fall of 2002, when the House bowed, 296-133, to Bush's request to authorize military action against Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died in the ensuing war, along with more than 3,100 U.S. troops.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Saturday "the presidnet believes that Congress should provide the full funding and flexibility our armed forces need to succeed in their mission to protect our country."
After a secure videoconference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Bush said the Iraqis reported providing troops to fight alongside Americans, making sure that no ethnic or religious factions are ignored in the security operations, providing $10 billion toward reconstruction and working on an oil revenue-sharing law.
"That's good news for the Iraqi people. And it should give people here in the United States confidence that his government knows its responsibilities and is following through on those responsibilities," Bush said.
More than 390 of 434 lawmakers spoke during nearly 45 hours of debate that spilled across four days - an unusual amount of time devoted to what Republicans and Democrats alike said was the most significant issue confronting the country.
Supporters of the nonbinding resolution included 229 Democrats and 17 Republicans - fewer Republican defections than Democrats had hoped to get and the White House and its allies had feared. Two Democrats joined 180 Republicans in opposition.
The developments unfolded as a new poll showed more than half of Americans surveyed view the war as a hopeless cause.
A sizable majority, 63 percent, opposes the decision to dispatch more troops, although support for Bush's plan has risen in the past few weeks from 26 percent to 35 percent, according to the AP-Ipsos poll.
The House measure disapproves of Bush's decision to increase troop strength, and pledges that Congress will support and protect the troops.
Bush has already said passage of the measure will not deter him from proceeding with the deployment of another 21,500 troops, designed primarily to quell sectarian violence in heavily populated Baghdad.
Already, troops of the Army's 82nd Airborne have arrived in Iraq. Another brigade is in Kuwait, undergoing final training before proceeding to Iraq. Three more brigades are ticketed for the Baghdad area, one each in March, April and May.
In addition, the Pentagon is sending two Marine battalions to Anbar Province in the western part of the country, the heart of the Sunni insurgency.
Bush and his allies in Congress calculated days ago that the House measure would pass, and increasingly have focused their energy on the next steps in the Democrats' attempt to end U.S. participation in the war.
"The President believes that the Congress should provide the full funding and flexibility our Armed Forces need to succeed in their mission to protect our country," said White House press secretary Tony Snow.
But Democratic Rep. David Obey, who chairs the committee that will review Bush's request, said, "the president wants a supplemental (spending bill). If he wants it, he's going to have to accept certain things."
Democrats have made clear in recent days they will use Bush's spending request to impose certain standards of readiness, training and rest for the troops.
"That stops the surge (in troops) for all intents and purposes, because ... they cannot sustain the deployment," Democratic Rep. John Murtha said recently.
Republicans pointed to Murtha's remarks repeatedly during the day as evidence that despite their claims to the contrary, Democrats intend to cut off funds for the troops.
"This is all part of their plan to eliminate funding for our troops that are in harm's way. And we stand here as Republicans ... committed to making sure our troops in harm's way have all the funds and equipment they need to win this war in Iraq," said Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader.